45 acp metal emptys

Guys i have been reloading brass for over 40 yrs but have never done the metal cases a buddy of mine gave me a bunch from a range he goes to my question is what do i need to know about these for reloading or are they even good to reload if so what do i need to do diff than brass if anything does the load data differ from metal to brass etc. please feel free to give me some advice.Tnks

Do you mean steel cases? If so, trash them. They're not great for reloading.

RMD

exbrit49

April 15, 2013, 09:00 PM

Blazer produces some Aluminum cases and I have seen a lot of steel cases from Eastern Europe.
I have seen several posts where some individuals have reloaded both of these cases.
Personally I would not reload them at all. Aluminum although hardened will work harden to the point it will become brittle and crack.
As for the steel, I would not use even the original loads in any of my guns. The cases are harder and I don't want them in any of the chambers on my guns.
Stick to brass, you can buy once fired genuine brass pretty reasonably. Why would you want to use a material that was used to cheapen the cost of the original load. None of these aluminum or steel were ever designed for re-loading. Brass was chosen over 100 years ago because it provided lots of benefits and virtually no negatives. No one has yet come up with a better material. it has the right elasticity, strength and ease of forming and re-sizing.
I saw 9mm once fired brass for $6/100 at a gun show yesterday, 38 spl was $9/100. ,most of the other calibers were in the same price range.
Use brass and have peace of mind.

wackemanstackem

April 15, 2013, 09:01 PM

guess that solves that to bad he gave me a bunch i was excited lol .trash can they go

If this were a post-apocalypse scenario, I'd reload them. Otherwise, there is too much brass around to risk it.

FROGO207

April 15, 2013, 10:19 PM

I do reload the ones I get that are not rusted to use where I can't reclaim my brass to reuse again. Let them have the trash casings if they are greedy.:evil: Otherwise it is not worth the bother to reload them at the present time it seems. It loads the same in my experience otherwise. But only reload the AL ones once if you do it or they will surely split.

BisleyBlackhawk45

April 15, 2013, 11:30 PM

Wackemanstackem...Punctuation is your friend. ;)

ngnrd

April 15, 2013, 11:47 PM

What kind of "metal" are they? Are you sure they're not nickle plated brass?

Sport45

April 15, 2013, 11:50 PM

Aluminum cases get thrown in with the coke cans for recycling. Steel cases go in the trash can when I run across them. That's what I do now. If brass gets scarce I'll probably reload them too if they're Boxer primed.

ljnowell

April 15, 2013, 11:52 PM

I keep steel cases and always have about 150 of them loaded and ready to go. One of the places we shoot IDPA at you never get to collect your brass till its over and the sharks swoop in and steal it all before you can get yours. So I take steel cased reloads to those shoots and dont worry about them.

wackemanstackem

April 16, 2013, 12:14 PM

they are not nickle plated brass so ill just pitch em have plenty of brass just didnt wana waist them if they i could reload them tnks guys

Kp321

April 16, 2013, 05:09 PM

Been loading USGI zinc plated steel 45 cases for years with no problems. I have loaded some Wolf lacquered steel cases for grins also with no problems. Still think I will relegate the Wolf cases to my SHTF stash. BTW, we have no corrosion problems here like some folks do.
I load action proving dummies on Blazer aluminum. Easy to identify and I really don't trust the cases. After all they are stamped NR.

Drail

April 16, 2013, 05:19 PM

One word - brass.

kingmt

April 17, 2013, 10:40 AM

I load allot of steel cases for 223. I really see no difference in the sizing of them. Neck tension is really tight & had to pull bullets from them. Makes good shoot & scoot ammo. There is always some laying at the range.

Walkalong

April 17, 2013, 03:15 PM

I see 10 to 15 times the brass .223 laying around the range vs steel. I guess they don't shoot much steel there.

maxyedor

April 17, 2013, 03:24 PM

Lots of people are afarid of steel cased .223 because of what they've read on other forums about it ruining ARs. That and many ranges don't allow steel cases because they want your brass to sell.

I'd keep the steel around, when you have enough, load it and shoot it, just don't believe I'd mix steel and brass in the same batch. I'd love some cheap steel for the desert, hate losing brass on the dirt, steel would be cheap enough not to care about.

IMtheNRA

April 17, 2013, 03:43 PM

If you have Speer Blazer aluminum cases - be careful. The ones I've seen use Berdan primers and they'll break your decapping pin and/or bend the rod inside the die.

kingmt

April 17, 2013, 05:42 PM

I really find brass anymore. The scrapers even get the 22LR around here. Unless you want 40 which all you have to do is follow the prison guards to there qualification day & it is knee deep.

dirtykid

April 17, 2013, 05:56 PM

I used a bunch of the aluminum cases I found at the range to decorate the ground around my fathers grave-marker, about the best use I could think of for them
It actually looks pretty cool, about 400-some rounds of .45 pushed into the clay surrounding the marker, makes his stand out from the rest !